Ireland to host four World Cup participants next year

Ireland is set to play the total of 16 internationals against the World Cup participants next year.

With 2018 was a breakthrough year for Irish cricket in many ways, they are now set for another momentous year, as Ireland will be hosting four World Cup participants — England, West Indies, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan — ahead of the prestigious ICC event next year.

2018 would be certainly memorable for Ireland in many ways, as they first earned ICC Test status and then booked a berth for the 2019 Cricket World Cup is the biggest achievement of the year. Now, they have planned to host the Full Member nations to tune up the national squad for the mega 50-over tournament, as well as, offer a chance to the home crowd to see their stars in action at home ground.

Ireland is set to play the total of 16 internationals against the World Cup participants from May 3 to July 13, 2019, at home, and they will first take on England at the Malahide Cricket Club for a solitary One-Day International on May 3 before hosting West Indies and Bangladesh for a tri-series.

They will play four games each before the final on May 17 at Malahide, then Ireland will play two-match One Day International series against Afghanistan — on May 19 and 21 — at Stormont. Ireland will then play three ODIs and three T20 Internationals against Zimbabwe, who missed out on the 2019 World Cup.

Warren Deutrom, Chief Executive of Cricket Ireland, said, “While 2018 was a breakthrough year in many ways for Irish cricket, 2019 is set to be another momentous year for our sport. Next season we will host five Full Member nations — with a number of the teams have not played here for many years.”

Deutrom signed off by saying, “In all, we will be hosting eight matches in Dublin and eight matches across Northern Ireland. The venues have been chosen to spread the fixture load across our four International-rated grounds — with five matches at Malahide, three at Clontarf, five at Stormont and three at Bready. The configuration of fixtures also allows teams involved in the tri-series to all be located in the same city to reduce travel impacts and maximize training and acclimatization opportunity for those sides as part of their build-up to Cricket World Cup 2019.”

Noteworthy, Ireland will also play their first overseas Test match against Afghanistan in India in March 2019 before flying another Test match against England at Lord's in July.